Grandma's hankie box is one of my fondest memories from childhood. This box sat on her waterfall dresser and she would let me rummage through it and wrap the hankies around my Barbie dolls like evening gowns. It made me feel very special.
When I became an adult we lived many hundreds of miles apart but she would come "out west" every Summer and spend some time at my house and my Mother and Uncles houses and help out with the canning and keep company. The hankie box was a distant memory but a memory just the same. When she passed away in 1991 I was asked what I would like to have as a memento and the very first thing that came to mind was the hankie box.
Over the years I have added many more hankies to the box and (shame on me!) am no longer sure which ones belonged to Grandma but there were a few other things she stored in this box that still remind me it was hers and a place to store her special things.
Many of the hankies in these photos are not in pristine condition. That has never been as important to me as the lovely designs and what they represent. They are representative of a slower, more gentle, time and also a time when things weren't so disposable as they are today. I carried a hankie in my purse myself for many years, just because.
How lovely to look into your purse and see something like this!
Thank you for stopping by today and sharing in one of my cherished memories!
12 comments:
What a great memory of your grandmother, and yes, a whole other world back then. When I was younger (I remember) in elementary school, I always had a hankie in my purse, and sometimes I used it!!
Wonderful post. We carried our lunch money tied into the corner of a hankie when I was in grade school;). You have a lovely collection.
Wow..fabulous...a gorgeous touching post!! beautiful!
Sometimes it is the little things that make us remember and smile. Great post.You have a great variety of hankies. I kept some of my moms and cherish them since I know some were also my grandmothers.
OHHHHHHHH my Grandma had a box very similar to that and she kept her jewelry in it until my sister got her a new jewelry box for Christmas one year.I have Grandma's box now.
There nothing like a great Granny
Janice
How beautiful the box and hankies are!! You are very fortunate to have something so special to remind you of your grandmother and your childhood. Thanks for sharing with us all!!
What a lovely post! It's my great-grandmother's hankies I remember from my childhood, and I'm fortunate to have received a couple of them when she died. You have quite a treasure!
When I was growing up, my sister and I had to carry two hankies -- one for "show" and one for "blow." that way if you needed to pull out a hankie in front of someone important, like a teacher, you didn't have to embarrass yourself with a used one!
I loved those old hankies. My mother had a little drawer in her big dresser, stacked with fresh ironed hankies. We only have a few of them now, as she continued to carry them herself long after we started with tissues, but I treasure them.
I wish I had her button box, though!
Great blog, great fun.
Thanks for visiting ... don't look back, I'm following you.
Cass
PS My HIGH SCHOOL reunion was 40 years ago and I'm beginning to regret my impulse to paint the kitchen AND cabinets myself. Side benefit: a good excuse not to cook.
Such special memories...thank you for sharing! Our Grandmas are so special to us and I have soooo many memories of all of my grandma's collections.
Your blog is lovely...thank you soooo much for leaving me a comment...I am off to visit some of your past posts to see what I have been missing.
Have a wonderful weekend... your collection of hankies is amazing. oxxox
can you ask her were she got this box? i have a box here, that has an image painted by what appears to be the same artist, but a different scene. i want to know who does these paintings. my box also has similar cut engravings.
oh. i just read more. im sorry, do u personally know anything about the box's past?
lys, I received the email for your comment but I can't find your email address to reply back so I'm hoping you will check back here. I am sorry to tell you I know nothing about this box other than it sitting on my Grandmother's dresser since I can remember. She was born in 1902 and I have no idea when she got it or even if it was new when she got it. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!
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